After the Friday prayers, I spotted Adam from far away. I made my way through the huge crowd, but just when I found a way out of all the people around me, Faisal, and another friend of his, Fahad saw me.
“Hey, Abdulrahman! Why didn't you come last night?” Asked Faisal.
“I was busy with our English project.” I lied.
“You missed out on a lot yesterday, come walk with us, we'll tell you all about it when we get to the abandoned house.” Said Fahad as he pulled me from the wrist towards him.
I tried thinking of an excuse so I could escape to Adam, but I thought of nothing so I allowed him to pull me away, and went to wherever they wanted to take me.
We walked under the burning heat for a few minutes until we got to the usual place we hang out in. It's a small deserted house, that was never fully built because the owner didn't have enough money to finish building it.
This place never changed much since we made it our own. The ground floor remained empty so no one would suspect us coming into this place. However, the second floor was a bit decent. We had a small, brown, old sofa. Right behind that sofa we had a couple of cigar chests, where we store most of our cigarets, loads of money -which I don't know where they got it from- a few cigars, and sometimes they would bring a bottle of alcohol if they could get their hands on one. I never drank any of the alcohol, nor did I ever ask them how the hell they managed to get any of it, so it's natural that I don't know how they could get them.
There are also a stack of all types of magazines and comix under the sofa. We would also bring a TV and video game consoles from time to time, and plug them into a generator that we usually leave under the sofa as well.
Of course we have also at least three to six ashtrays in that house. We usually keep two on a small table by the sofa, some on the plastic chairs we've got and the rest we just leave them on the ground.
We walked up the stairs, our foreheads covered with sweat due to the hot sun we just walked in. Faisal headed to the cigar chest and got out a box of marlboro, the moment he stepped on the second floor. I looked at that box, and thought about what Malak said to me last night, but the gold was right there in front of me, and all I had to do was receive it. Why would anyone say no to something they want? Besides, smoking is better than inhaling second hand smoke.
Faisal got a cigaret for himself and Fahad. Then he walked up to me, moved a cigaret half way through box, and looked at me straight in the eyes, but when I reached for it, he pulled his hand away.
“What's your problem? Give it to me!” I said.
“You lied about doing your homework.” Said Faisal calmly.
I was quite for a moment, and my forehead was sweating a bit from the tension, because to them going out with other people is a problem. “What's the big deal? I just went out with old friends!” I tried defending myself knowing that there was no use.
“We both know it is a big deal. Sure you'll just be going out with other people now, but soon enough you'll tell them all of our secrets.” He stared at me to show me how serious he was and then continued, “I don't want to spend a single day in jail, got that?”
Fahad laid the tips of his finger on Faisal's chest to remind him not to attack me or do anything stupid. “Haman, sit down, here's a cigaret.” Said Fahad as he handed me a cigaret and lit it up for me.
“We both know what we've done in the past isn't a big deal, and doesn't have to send us behind bars, don't we?”
“But we're still doing them.” I said automatically, and I realized that I shouldn't have said that.
Faisal pulled me up from the chair by the shirt, using both hand, forcing me to drop the cigaret. “Listen, if you tell anyone what we are doing to get these cigarets, about this house, about the booze, or anything, we will all be screwed, get it?”
I started breathing hard, but got out whatever bit of courage I had in me and pushed him away, “I never said anything to anyone, and never will. I'm not an idiot, and why the hell would I tell anyone that I steel, trespass, or even tell them about that one time when we almost killed a kid during a fight?”
“Shit, can't you keep your mouth shut? You practically just said all the things that could get us into court in one short sentence! Why can't you control yourself!” Shouted Faisal.
Fahad pulled Faisal to the sofa, and made him calm down. He then lit me up another cigaret and brought me a plastic chair to sit on. Then he began speaking, “Listen, all what we're trying to say is that you sometimes allow your feeling to takeover you, then you start dabbling about all that's inside you the moment you feel close to that person. We can't risk that and well, Abdulrahman, these guys aren't your friends; we are. We have been there for you when your mom died-”
“So basically stop hanging out with them this much before you screw us all over.” Said Faisal, cutting off Fahad.
At that moment I received a text message. “Read it out loud, it's probably one of your friends.”
“Hey, Noor told me about your talk this morning, I thought I'd see you this afternoon, is everything alright? Btw I totally agree with her about your smoking habit, don't worry about it :)
-Adam”
I froze. No one is supposed to know about us smoking except for some exceptions like Malak. I don't really mind other people knowing as long as they support me, but I really had no idea how Faisal, and Fahad were going to take this. They've been trying their best to keep all of this a secret, because if this information was to be learned by the wrong person, the word could spread out, and all of our secrets will be out in the open, and we will all be closed in.
Fahad started clapping, “So you told them, haven't you?"
I wasn't able to say a thing, so I just stood there as if I've just seen a ghost, and allowed him to continue, "I tried being understanding of your situation, but now I hear that your 'friends' know about you smoking? What else did you tell them? Did you tell them about this house, would like us to invite them over, so you could have a slumber party? Really, Abdulrahman, you can't talk now?" He waited for a response, but all I gave him was a stare of a frightened cat, "Answer me!" He barked.
"I did not tell them anything, they found out somehow, the only one who knows is Malak." I murmured.
He gazed into my eyes, to see if I was lying, when he saw no signs of dishonesty, he shoved me onto the sofa, and got himself a bottle of wine and a box of cigarets, and left me with Faisal.
"So it's just you and I now. Did you hear of the phrase action speaks louder than words? Well, I don't think you've heard what Fahad said, so let me put it all into action." Said Fasial as he started approaching me. My eyes were locked on the six foot tall, beast in front of me. Faisal was a bit chubby, and big even for a sixteen year old, so I couldn't afford being in his clutches. I started rising from the couch, looking around for an exit, but the only way other than the stairs behind the beast, was for me to jump from the second floor window. However, even that wouldn't help my case, since it would lead me to Fahad. I walked slowly behind the couch to feel a bit secure, but as I walked there I tripped over the open cigar chest!
"You chose a bad time to be clumsy, Abdulrahman." Said Faisal grimly. He was just fifteen meters away from me, and I had no where to go, the only thing that was between us was that damn cigar chest. I look at the chest and what it contained; the last two bottles of alcohol! I grabbed one and pointed it towards Faisal, as if I was using it to shield myself.
"Don't take a single step towards me or you'll regret it!" I warned him as I got out my lighter.
"What will you do, hit me with that bottle? Come on give me your best swing." He teased.
"Stop!" He actually stopped from my tone. "If you take one more step, I'll break this bottle on the chest, and burn all what it contains with this lighter! Now go back, or I swear to God I'll do it! So back away into the other room, and I want to hear the door lock!"
"You son of a b-" I broke the bottle on the chest, and cut him right there. He started backing away slowly, without taking his eyes off the lighter in my hand. He went into the farthest room and did as I said. Before I left, I grabbed three boxes of cigarets, and ran out the house. Luckily, Fahad was too busy juggling his bottle and the cigarets to see me running away.
When I made it home, I used whatever energy left in me to run up to my room, and lit up a cigaret for myself. I cracked a window open, laid on my bed, and texted Malak about all of what happened. She first told me to be careful when I go out, and make sure to always be in a crowded place. Luckily, in school Faisal was the only one dumb enough to fail two years respectively, so he's in the same school year I'm in, but he isn't in any of my classes. This meant that he's the only one I will really need to be worried about in school, but I'll be safe as long as I'm surrounded by people.
She also reminded me that all humans have been gifted with something; everyone forgets. She tried soothing me by telling me that they will soon forget about all of this, and move on. However, we both knew that won't happen, but I hoped that they were afraid that if they harmed me in anyway I would tell on them. The problem was that I was also scared that they are smart enough to know that if I report them to the police, I'll end up in the same problem, which is why I have to keep my mouth touch.
I decided -for now- to leave it all up to Allah, he knows my intentions when I started smoking, but that wouldn't cover up for the rest of the things I've done like stealing and all of the other mistakes I've done, but I still hoped to find a way out of this.
The one thing I knew from all of this, is that it is not over; I'm safe for now. Life will continue, and I will have to deal with the consequences. That's what I get for choosing the wrong paths, but every path leads to another, all I have to do is make the right decisions by choosing the right paths, because no matter how unfair life seems, no matter how trapped you feel, there will always be a way out. After all, life is a test, and what good would it be if the test was easy, right? We only improve when we are being challenged, because that's when we bring out our best. So now I have to take the test I've been given, and try my best to pass it.
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